Song Story: Crying in the Chapel

Crying in the Chapel was written by Artie Glenn for his son, Darrell, to sing. Darrell and Artie’s band, The Rhythm Riders, recorded the song in 1953.

The song was rejected by a couple of publishers before being published by Valley Publishers. The original version was released in May 1953.  It became a local hit and soon spread throughout the nation, becoming one of the most covered songs of the year.

Elvis recorded the song for his gospel album His Hand in Mine, but eventually shelved because neither he nor the Jordanaires were satisfied with the three recordings.

His version of Crying in the Chapel was released on April 6, 1965 on RCA’s “Gold Standard Series.” “It became Elvis’ first million seller since “Return to Sender” in 1962 and his greatest chart success over a six-year span.”

It hit #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and topped the Easy Listening chart for seven weeks. In Great Britain it spent two non-consecutive weeks at #1.

Crying in the Chapel was later included as a bonus track on Presley’s 1967 gospel album, How Great Thou Art.

Other’s to record the song include Rex Allen, June Valli, Little Richard, The Platters, Ella Fitzgerald, Art Lund, The Orioles, and Bob Marley.